Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

Background

Prior to the MPBL, the concept of a Philippine sports league using a home and away format had been done multiple times before. The most notable of these leagues was the Metropolitan Basketball Association of the late 1990s and early 2000s, which served as a direct competitor to the top-flight Philippine Basketball Association. High expenses and lack of funding led to the MBA ceasing operations in 2002.^[2] There was also Liga Pilipinas, formed by the merger of the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association and National Basketball Conference. The league was part of a merger with the Philippine Basketball League to form the PBA's upcoming developmental league, but the plan fell through and the D-League launched independently.^[3]

Manny Pacquiao has pursued a professional basketball career for a few years, having played in and coached for the Kia/Mahindra franchise in the PBA. After his PBA career, he formally launched the MPBL on August 29, 2017, with the intent to feature both the commercial and barangay-level side, with teams on the commercial side to have a home locality in addition to a corporate sponsor.^[4][5] The plan was for the league to begin with Luzon-based teams only and then expand to Visayas and Mindanao later on. The expanded league would have two divisions, North and South, where one team from both divisions face in a finals series similar to the format of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in North America.^[6] The league was planned to start as early as September 23, 2017 with at least six teams.^[7] A preseason tournament was held with the Bulacan Kuyas finishing as champions.^[8] Snow Badua was the league's inaugural commissioner, but he did not take on the role when the first season eventually began as six-time PBA champion Kenneth Duremdes succeeded Badua as league commissioner on November 22, 2017.

2018–2020: Amateur era

The Smart Araneta Coliseum (left) served as the venue for the league's inaugural gameday on January 25, 2018. The Mayor Vitaliano D. Agan Coliseum (right) is home to the Zamboanga Sikat, one of sixteen teams that joined during the league's national expansion.

The MPBL began its inaugural season on January 25, 2018, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The inaugural season featured ten teams, all based in Luzon, with the requirement of each team having three homegrown players.^[9][10] In the opening game, the Parañaque Patriots scored a 70–60 victory over the Caloocan Supremos.^[11] The playoffs only had eight teams due to the small size, concluding with the Batangas City Athletics winning the inaugural title in the 2018 finals against the Muntinlupa Cagers.

In the 2018–19 season, the league added sixteen expansion teams, bringing the total to 26 teams. Five of the sixteen expansions are based in Visayas and Mindanao, thus marking the league's national expansion.^[12][13] The North and South Divisions were introduced and the playoff pool doubled to sixteen teams, eight per division.^[14] The league also placed roster restrictions on teams, only allowing one Filipino-foreigner and up to five ex-professional players, intended to maintain parity and preserve the league's grassroots foundations. However, the classification of and restrictions on Filipino-foreigners was criticized by fans, coaches, and players, particularly other Filipino-foreigners including Rob Reyes and Abu Tratter.^[15][16] The rule would later be relaxed in future seasons.^[17][18] The 2018–19 season also saw the inaugural edition of the MPBL All-Star Game, which was held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. The San Juan Knights won the title that season against the Davao Occidental Tigers in the 2019 national finals, which is to date, the only series to go the full length of five games.

The following 2019–20 season featured 31 teams participating in the league, the most the league had in its history, adding six expansion teams but also saw its first departing team, the Mandaluyong El Tigre. Roster restrictions were also relaxed, allowing more Filipino-foreigners and ex-professional players to play in the league.^[20] This season also saw the debut of the International Invasion series, which saw games being played in the United Arab Emirates and in Canada.

2021–2025: The start of the professional era

On November 9, 2021, it was announced that the MPBL would turn into a professional league. A month later, on December 9, 2021, the MPBL was granted professional status by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB).^[27] This also allowed the league to feature collegiate players on team rosters, as long as the player himself has a Special Guest License. The league's first professional event was the 2021 Invitational, during which all roster restrictions were lifted.^[28][29] The preseason tournament would later be developed with the MPBL Preseason Invitational in future seasons as a smaller pocket tournament.

As the league continued its recovery from the pandemic, it finally started its fourth season, the 2022 season, after multiple postponements and over a year after last season's conclusion. It only featured 22 teams, the smallest the league has gotten since its inaugural season. The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards became the first team to achieve a regular season sweep and subsequently won the 2022 national finals against the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines. The succeeding 2023 season featured 29 teams, which included the additions of the Negros Muscovados and Quezon Huskers.^[30] The season also marked the beginning of a trend where PBA prospects, such as Justine Baltazar, CJ Cansino, and Adrian Nocum would first play in the MPBL before eventually declaring for the draft.^[31][32][33] Similarly, PBA veterans such as the likes of Marc Pingris, Jayjay Helterbrand, and Arwind Santos also began playing in the regional league during the latter part of their playing careers.^[34][35] On November 7, 2023, the league launched its social arm, the MPBL Kalinga, with the goal of providing medical assistance to MPBL players, former and current, as well as league officials and staff.^[36] In October 2024, a party-list sharing the same acronym, the Maharlikang Pilipino sa Bagong Lipunan party-list, was created in an effort to extend their grassroots program into other sports.^[37] The season culminated with the homegrown-laden Pampanga Giant Lanterns sweeping the Bacoor City Strikers in the 2023 national finals.

The 2024 season also featured 29 teams and marked the start of the league's Northern Luzon expansion. The ex-professional player limit was removed, allowing teams to sign any number of professional players onto their rosters.^[38] In April 2024, the league began exploring the possibility of joining the East Asia Super League.^[39] However, this was later refuted by EASL CEO Henry Kerins in October that year, stating that "there were no exploratory talks" while also sharing his respect for the league.^[40] The season culminated with the first back-to-back championship after Pampanga defeated the Quezon Huskers in three games in the 2024 MPBL finals, which also featured the league's first international games in five years.^[41][42]

The 2025 season features 30 teams and will see the introduction of the league's play-in tournament, a series of games to be held after the regular season and before the playoffs to determine which teams take up the final playoff spots similar to its NBA counterpart. The Northern Luzon expansion continued with the addition of the Ilagan Isabela Cowboys.^[43]

2026–present: New leadership

In January 2026, the league had its first major leadership change since starting play in 2018, with Kenneth Duremdes becoming MPBL president with Emmerson Oreta succeeding him as the league's third commissioner.^[44] The league wcontracted to 27 teams but added one expansion team in the Meycauayan Marilao Gems.

Title sponsorship deals

In December 2019, Chooks-to-Go of Bounty Agro Ventures became the league's first title sponsor. The deal was initially set to last for five years (until December 2024), but only lasted until the 2021 Invitational.^[24] Sports betting platform OKBet, succeeded Chooks-to-Go as the league's new title sponsor in 2022 and continued into 2023.^[45] In 2025, the league signed a new title sponsorship deal with gambling company 1xbet, which supposed to last until 2026,^[46] however the sponsorship was eventually pulled out mid-season.

Game-fixing issue

The league has been noted for its game-fixing problem, which has been one of its long-standing issues. The league began cracking down on game-fixing ahead of the 2019–20 season,^[47] a season that went on to have multiple such cases.^[48][49][50] Ahead of the 2024 season, the league banned 47 players and officials who were allegedly involved in such acts.^[51] The league has also told team owners to exclude any players and coaches who are suspected to be involved in this issue.^[52]

Former teams

Notes

Teams per region

The table below shows how the league is spread across all regions in the country. As of 2025, Metro Manila has the most active teams out of any region with nine followed by Calabarzon with five, and Central Luzon with three. Negros Island Region and Soccsksargen each have two teams while every other representing region has one team. In terms of island groups, a majority of teams are based in Luzon, which has 20 teams, while Visayas and Mindanao have four each.

Twelve of the country's eighteen regions are currently being represented. Ilocos Region, Bicol Region, and Davao Region had prior representation in the league. Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and Caraga are the only regions that haven't had any teams compete in the league.

Notes

Team rivalries

Within just its first decade, the MPBL has already developed rivalries between its teams. Due to the league using a single round-robin format in every season thus far, the league’s rivalries mostly revolve around playoff series. Others may involve contention within the division and/or the league overall.

As of 2026, the league's only notable active rivalry is the Batangas City–Zamboanga rivalry. Both teams met in the playoffs four times in seven seasons, including three straight from 2019 to 2022 and a division finals series in 2022. Additionally, all four series went the full length.^[54][55] Historical rivalries include Davao Occidental–San Juan, Nueva Ecija–San Juan, Pampanga–San Juan, and Nueva Ecija–Pampanga.

Preseason

Before the regular season, the league holds a Preseason Invitational tournament, featuring a set number of teams. The tournament is divided into two phases: the group stage and the playoffs. In the group stage, the participating teams are divided into multiple groups, where each team will play against their group opponents once. The top two teams of each group advance to a single-elimination playoffs.

Regular season

The regular season utilizes a single round-robin tournament format, where each team plays against all of the other teams once, regardless of division alignment. The league uses FIBA rules for all of its games. The league uses the number of wins as its first metric for determining rankings and any ties are broken using the quotient system.^[56]

Two or three games are scheduled each day to be played in a single venue, thus a majority of the league's games are considered neutral-site games. In most cases, the home team typically plays in the final game. Should any games be postponed or suspended, most commonly due to natural disasters like typhoons, those will be moved towards the back end of the regular season and are only played if there are postseason implications.^[57]

Similar to the PBA, league also schedules series of out-of-town games throughout the regular season, known as Invasion series, where consecutive gamedays take place in areas far from the Greater Manila Area, such as Visayas and Mindanao. Invasion series also covers the league's international games.

All-Star Game

Near the end of the regular season, the league holds its seasonal All-Star Game. Two teams representing the North and South Divisions are composed of fifteen players from each division, all of whom are declared as the season's all-stars. Alongside the All-Star Game are the various festivities held at the same day, including the Executives' Game, Three-Point Shootout, and Slam Dunk Contest.

Play-in tournament

Beginning with the 2025 season, the league will feature a play-in tournament to be contested by teams ranked seventh through tenth in their respective divisions. The seventh and eighth-placed teams play to determine the seventh seed in the playoffs. The ninth and tenth-placed teams play to face the looser of the seventh place game for the last seed.

Playoffs

Since the 2018–19 season, sixteen teams advance to the playoffs, eight per division. These include the top six teams from each division as well as two qualifying teams from the play-in tournament.

In the first round or the division quarterfinals, the first seed is matched with the eighth seed, the second with the seventh, the third with the sixth, and the fourth with the fifth. The division semifinals will then have the winner of the 1–8 series match with the winner of the 4–5 series, and the winner of the 2–7 series with the winner of the 3–6 series. The winners of both series then meet in the division finals. The champions of each division will then meet in the final round, dubbed as the MPBL finals or the MPBL national finals, where the two teams play in one final series to determine the series champion. The first two rounds, the division quarterfinals and semifinals, are best-of-three series, both division finals are best-of-five, and the national finals is best-of-seven.

Awards

A majority of the league's awards are given out during the national finals, such as the Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards. Two awards, the Finals MVP and Coach of the Year, are given out after the finals.

Roster regulations

There is no draft held during the off-season, instead teams acquire their players through the signing of contracts. Teams must have a minimum of 15 players in their roster, with the maximum being 22. In each game, however, teams can only field a 15-man roster into the court. All local players are eligible, although teams can also sign up to two Filipino-foreigners. The league currently doesn't allow imports.^[58]

Being based in the grassroots level, each team is required to have at least three homegrown players who come from the team's home locality. Since 2022, with the transition to professional status, the league has also allowed collegiate players to join as long as the player is granted a Special Guest License from the Games and Amusement Board.^[59] Since June 1, 2024, the NCAA no longer allows SGLs to play professionally.^[60][61] The league also had an ex-professional player limit, where teams were allowed to sign limited number of players with prior professional experience. This was replaced with an ex-PBA player limit in 2022, and in 2024 the limit was scrapped in its entirety.^[38] The league schedules a window during the middle of the season where teams can propose trades, all to be approved by the commissioner's office.

Junior MPBL

Player development and movement

Over time, the MPBL has grown to become a hub for collegiate players or prospects to play competitive basketball before joining top-flight leagues such as the Philippine Basketball Association. Its earliest prospects include former NBA D-League player Bobby Ray Parks Jr. and future two-time PBA Finals MVP Mikey Williams, both of whom went on to be drafted highly in the PBA.^[62][63] The PBA drafts in both season 49 (2024) and season 50 (2025) saw Justine Baltazar and Geo Chiu, respectively, selected with the first overall pick. Both players had stints in the MPBL prior to selection.^[64][65] Among other notable prospects include Aris Dionisio, Kemark Cariño, CJ Cansino, Jason Brickman, and Mike Phillips.^[66]

In recent years, the league has also positioned itself as an alternative to the PBA, with players such as Encho Serrano and Dave Ildefonso choosing to compete in the regional league instead of the top-flight.^[67][68] Some were reported to be earning salaries equivalent to or larger than the ₱420,000 maximum salary offered by the PBA.^[69] However, players are subject to bans from the PBA due to playing should it be considered ligang labas, including Kyt Jimenez and Larry Muyang.^[70][71]

The growth of the league also led to the PBA creating new regulations which aimed to further minimize player movement between the two leagues. In August 2025, the league began banning players under expiring contracts who decide move to other leagues, domestic or international.^[72] In January 2026, players must not have existing contractual obligations with other teams before the draft proper. At the time, the PBA draft is held around the same time as the MPBL reaches the back end of the regular season and into the postseason.^[73]

Spin-off leagues

Following the success of the MPBL, Pacquiao has made further developments in grassroots-based sports. On June 15, 2023, the Junior MPBL was unveiled in a press conference. The youth-oriented league's inaugural season began on July 9, 2023, with teams competing in 14-under, 16-under, and 18-under divisions.^[74] The junior league features a 21-under division, billed as the "Junior MPBL D-League". In the same press conference, Pacquiao also shared intent to create a volleyball counterpart similar to the MPBL that will cater to female players.^[75] That league would be known as the Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association (MPVA) and began on October 22, 2023, with eight teams.^[76][77] On October 27, 2024, it was reported that a direct women's counterpart, the Women's Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League is in development. UST Growling Tigers coach Haydee Ong was set to be the first commissioner of the women's league.^[78]

Presidents

Commissioners